Magnetic recording medium and magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus

ABSTRACT

A magnetic recording medium includes a servo area where servo data used for detecting a position of a magnetic head on a magnetic recording medium is recorded; and a writable data area, arranged side by side with the servo area in a track direction, on which user data is written by the magnetic head. The servo area includes a preamble area where a preamble recording pattern that represents data used for providing a clock synchronization of the servo data is formed by a plurality of magnetic sections; and a burst area where data used for detecting a relative position of the magnetic head with respect to a track center position of the servo data is recorded and on which a single burst recording pattern which is a layout pattern that tilts to the preamble recording pattern with a predetermined tilt angle is formed by a plurality of magnetic sections.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of priority from and is a Divisionof application Ser. No. 11/329,599 filed on Jan. 11, 2006, which isbased upon and claims the benefit of priority from the prior JapanesePatent Application No. 2005-005552, filed on Jan. 12, 2005; the entirecontents of both applications are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a magnetic recording medium providedwith a servo-area on which information used for positioning a magnetichead at a target position is recorded, and a magneticrecording/reproducing apparatus that carries out a reproducing processon such a magnetic recording medium.

2. Description of the Related Art

In a hard disk drive (HDD), a controlling process in which, uponpositioning a magnetic head at a specified track, after the magnetichead has been allowed to seek for the specified track, a relativedistance of the magnetic head from the center position of the track isfound to position-determine the magnetic head on the track, needs to becarried out.

In order to carry out such a positioning control, servo data of amagnetic section recorded on a burst area in the servo-area of themagnetic recording medium is reproduced so that the positioning controlof the magnetic head is carried out. The burst area is divided intobursts A, B, C and D made of magnetic sections recorded by four types ofburst recording patterns having different positioning phases in theradius direction of the magnetic recording medium, and based upon anamplitude value of a reproduced signal generated when the magnetic headcrosses each of the bursts A, B, C and D, positional deviationinformation indicating the relative distance of the magnetic head fromthe center position of the track is found so that the magnetic head ispositioned at the track center position; thus, the positioning controlis carried out.

In recent years, with respect to the magnetic recording medium,so-called patterned media in which servo-data to be recorded in aservo-area is embedded and formed as a magnetic section uponmanufacturing the magnetic recording medium have received muchattention.

In these pattern media, it is difficult to ensure the shape stability ofthe magnetic sections of the respective bursts A, B, C and D over theentire surface, and noise to a reproduced signal from the magneticsections tends to increase to cause a difficulty in obtaining accurateposition deviation information, causing the problem that there is afailure in positioning control for the magnetic head.

Moreover, upon manufacturing patterned media, in an attempt to stablycarry out transferring and forming processes over the entire surface, itis preferable to reduce fluctuations in the ratio of irregularities ofthe magnetic section in the servo-area to a level as small as possible;however, within the servo-area, the ratio of irregularities becomes 50%in a preamble area and an address area while the ratio thereof becomes25% in a burst area, with the result that it becomes difficult tomanufacture a disk by carrying out transferring and forming processesover the entire surface.

In order to solve this problem, for example, Japanese Patent ApplicationLaid-Open (JP-A) No. 7-169032 and JP-A No. 6-68623 have disclosed atechnique, which, upon processing a reproduced signal of the servo-data,detects a phase difference of the reproduced signal of the servo-data.JP-A No. 6-231552, which relates to a process used for detectingposition deviation information corresponding to a relative distance ofthe magnetic head from the track center position, discloses a techniquein which: a phase difference of a reproduced signal from a burst area isdetected and based upon the detected phase difference, positiondeviation information is found.

In the reproduced signal processing of this type utilizing aconventional phase difference detection, however, although the precisionof the position deviation information can be improved, phases ofreproduced signals from at least two types of burst recording patternsneed to be detected. For this reason, in this conventional system,magnetic sections need to be recorded by using at least two types ofdifferent patterns in the burst area, causing the problem that theformatting efficiency of the magnetic recording medium deteriorates.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to one aspect of the present invention, a magnetic recordingmedium includes a servo area where servo data used for detecting aposition of a magnetic head on a magnetic recording medium is recorded;and a writable data area, arranged side by side with the servo area in atrack direction, on which user data is written by the magnetic head. Theservo area includes a preamble area where a preamble recording patternthat represents data used for providing a clock synchronization of theservo data is formed by a plurality of magnetic sections; and a burstarea where data used for detecting a relative position of the magnetichead with respect to a track center position of the servo data isrecorded and on which a single burst recording pattern which is a layoutpattern that tilts to the preamble recording pattern with apredetermined tilt angle is formed by a plurality of magnetic sections.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a magneticrecording/reproducing apparatus includes a reproducing unit thatperforms a reproducing process on a magnetic recording medium thatincludes a servo area where servo data used for detecting a position ofa magnetic head on the magnetic recording medium is recorded, and awritable data area, arranged side by side with the servo area in thetrack direction, on which user data is written by the magnetic head. Theservo area includes a preamble area where a preamble recording patternthat represents data used for providing a clock synchronization of theservo data is formed by a plurality of magnetic sections, and a burstarea where data used for detecting a relative position of the magnetichead with respect to a track center position of the servo data isrecorded and on which a single burst recording pattern which is a layoutpattern that tilts to the preamble recording pattern with apredetermined tilt angle is formed by a plurality of magnetic sections.The reproducing unit includes a phase detection unit that detects aphase difference of a burst reproduced signal of the burst area from areproduced signal of the preamble area, based upon sample values atrespective points in the preamble area, which are sampled by using asynchronous clock determined by a reproduced signal processing of thepreamble area and a plurality of predetermined coefficients, as phasedifference information corresponding to a plurality of phasedifferences; and a position detection unit that detects positiondeviation information indicating a relative distance of the magnetichead from the track center position based upon the phase differenceinformation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram that shows a structure of a magneticrecording medium according to a first embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram that shows a structure centered on aservo-area of the magnetic recording medium of the first embodiment;

FIG. 3A is an enlarged schematic diagram that shows a burst area of themagnetic recording medium of the first embodiment, and corresponds to anenlarged view of the burst area in a mode in which a magnetic sectiontilts with an angle corresponding to one cycle of a phase of a burstreproduced signal for each of changes in two tracks of cylinderinformation;

FIG. 3B is an enlarged schematic diagram that shows a burst area of themagnetic recording medium in another mode of the first embodiment, andcorresponds to an enlarged view of the burst area in a mode in which amagnetic section tilts with an angle corresponding to one cycle of aphase of a burst reproduced signal for each of changes in four tracks ofcylinder information;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram that shows a structure of a burst-areareproducing circuit of a magnetic recording/reproducing apparatusaccording to the first embodiment;

FIG. 5A is an explanatory view that shows a burst reproducing signal atphase H0=0 and a sampling point;

FIG. 5B is an explanatory view that shows a burst reproducing signal atphase H0 and a sampling point;

FIG. 6 is a flow chart that shows a sequence of burst-area reproducingprocesses carried out by a burst-area reproducing circuit according tothe first embodiment;

FIG. 7A is a graph that shows a state of a change due to an off-trackposition of the center of a magnetic head from the center of a track,which is given by integrated value BstAB of a phase difference cosinevalue C and integrated value BstCD of a phase difference sine value S;

FIG. 7B is a graph that shows position deviation information PES inassociation with each of track addresses;

FIG. 8 is a block diagram that shows a structure of a burst-areareproducing circuit of a magnetic recording/reproducing apparatusaccording to a second embodiment;

FIG. 9 is an explanatory view that shows a state in which inner productcoefficients are switched for each of divided gates of burst gates;

FIG. 10 is a flow chart that shows a sequence of burst-area reproducingprocesses according to the second embodiment;

FIG. 11 is a graph that shows a state of a change in burst value Bstbetween an off-track position and each of gate intervals;

FIG. 12 is a block diagram that shows a structure of a burst-areareproducing circuit of a magnetic recording/reproducing apparatusaccording to a third embodiment;

FIG. 13 is a flow chart that shows a sequence of burst-area reproducingprocesses according to the third embodiment;

FIG. 14 is a block diagram that shows a structure of a burst-areareproducing circuit of a magnetic recording/reproducing apparatusaccording to a fourth embodiment;

FIG. 15 is a flow chart that shows a sequence of burst-area reproducingprocesses according to the fourth embodiment;

FIG. 16 is a block diagram that shows a structure of a burst-areareproducing circuit 1600 that is a modification of the fourthembodiment;

FIG. 17 is a flow chart that shows a sequence of burst-area reproducingprocesses of the modification of the fourth embodiment;

FIG. 18 is a block diagram that shows a structure of a burst-areareproducing circuit and a position-speed detection unit of a magneticrecording/reproducing apparatus according to a fifth embodiment;

FIG. 19 is an explanatory view that shows a state in which a burst gateis divided;

FIG. 20 is a flow chart that shows a sequence of magnetic headposition-speed detecting processes by a magnetic recording/reproducingapparatus according to the fifth embodiment;

FIG. 21 is a block diagram that shows a structure of a burst-areareproducing circuit and a position-speed detecting unit of a magneticrecording/reproducing apparatus according to a sixth embodiment;

FIG. 22 is an explanatory view that shows a state of a rising delay timeof a divided gate in comparison with a burst gate;

FIG. 23 is an explanatory view that shows an example in which the numberof divisions of the burst gate is increased in response to a targetspeed of a magnetic head; and

FIG. 24 is a block diagram that shows a structure of a magneticrecording/reproducing apparatus according to an eighth embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Exemplary embodiments of a magnetic recording medium and a magneticrecording/reproducing apparatus according to the present invention willbe described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view that shows a structure of a magneticrecording medium according to a first embodiment. FIG. 1 shows themagnetic recording medium viewed from above. As shown in FIG. 1, aplurality of tracks 120 is formed on concentric circles on the magneticrecording medium. Each of the tracks is divided into a plurality of dataareas 100 by a plurality of servo-areas 110 that are virtually formedinto a substantially radial format.

The data area 100 forms an area on which user data can be written by amagnetic head of a magnetic recording medium reproducing device. Theservo-area 110 is an area on which servo data that allows the magnetichead of the magnetic recording medium reproducing device to detect aposition on the magnetic recording medium has been preliminarily formed.

Here, the track direction of the magnetic recording medium refers to anarray direction of sectors in which the sector address increases in onetrack, and corresponds to arrow A direction shown in FIG. 1 in themagnetic recording medium according to the present embodiment.

Addresses are assigned to each of the data areas as physical sectors 0to N in succession in the track direction. In FIG. 1, for convenience ofexplanation, an 8-sector structure with N=7 is shown; however, in actualcases, a structure with N>100 or more is used.

Moreover, the radial direction of the magnetic recording medium refersto a direction toward the center along the radius from the peripheraledge of the magnetic recording medium, and in the magnetic recordingmedium of the present embodiment, the radial direction corresponds tothe width direction of the track that is arrow B direction shown in FIG.1.

In the magnetic recording medium of the present embodiment, the trackwidth of the servo-area and the track width of the data area are formedso as to be identical to each other. Here, not limited to thisstructure, the track width of the servo-area 110 may be designed to be ⅔of the track width of the data area 100.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram that shows a structure mainly composed ofthe servo-areas 110 of the magnetic recording medium according to thefirst embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, the magnetic recording medium ofthe present embodiment has a structure in which the data areas 100 arearranged side by side in the track direction of each of the servo areas110. Here, in FIG. 2, a broken line indicates the centerline of eachtrack.

The data area 100 is provided with a plurality of tracks having magneticbands 101 that allow the magnetic head to write user data thereon, witha non-magnetic band 102 on which no user data is writable being placedbetween adjacent tracks. In other words, the magnetic recording mediumof the present embodiment forms a discrete track-type recording mediumin which the magnetic bands 101 are physically separated by thenon-magnetic band 102.

The servo-area 110 is provided with magnetic sections 201 and 302 aswell as non-magnetic sections 202 and 302 that are formed thereonthrough an entire-surface transferring process by a stamper uponmanufacturing the magnetic recording medium, and the non-magneticsections 202 and 302 have a structure filled with a non-magneticmaterial. Upon reproducing servo data from the servo-area 110 by themagnetic head of the magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus, themagnetic sections 201 and 302 are reproduced as a binary value “1,” andthe non-magnetic sections 202 and 302 are reproduced as a binary value“0.”

As shown in FIG. 2, the servo-area 110 is constituted by a preamble area111, an address area 112 and a burst area 113. Here, the magneticsections 201 and 302 may be formed through the entire-surfacetransferring process by a stamper at the time of manufacturing themagnetic recording medium, or may be preliminarily recorded and formedby using a servo track writer (STW).

In the magnetic recording medium of the present embodiment, thenon-magnetic band 102 and the non-magnetic sections 202 and 302 have astructure, which is filled with a non-magnetic material; however, inplace of the structure filled with a non-magnetic material, a structurein which non-magnetic sections 202 and 302 are prepared as voids may beadopted.

The preamble area 111 is an area in which, among pieces of data, dataused for conducting a clock synchronizing process is recorded, andmagnetic sections 201 and non-magnetic sections 202 are formed inresponse to codes (“1” and “0”) of such data. The preamble area 111 isread by the magnetic head prior to an address area 112 and a burst area113, and used for a PLL (Phase Lock Loop) process that is used forsynchronizing a clock of a data reproduced signal in response to a timedeviation caused by a rotation eccentricity or the like of the magneticrecording medium as well as for an AGC (Auto Gain Control) that is usedfor appropriately maintaining an amplitude of the reproduced signal.

The preamble area 111 is prepared as a linear form in which a pluralityof the magnetic sections 201 are placed so as to extend in the trackwidth direction (arrow B direction in FIG. 1, that is, perpendiculardirection in FIG. 2) that is perpendicular to the track direction sothat the same reproduced signal is obtained from data whichever trackposition the magnetic head of the magnetic recording/reproducingapparatus is located in, and the magnetic sections 201 are recorded as apreamble recording pattern in which the magnetic sections 201 arearranged in the track direction with a non-magnetic section having thesame width being interpolated there between.

The address area 112 is an area in which codes referred to as servomarks indicating the start of the servo-area 110 and data formed bysector information, cylinder information and the like represented by aManchester encoding system, and the magnetic sections 201 and thenon-magnetic sections 202 are formed in accordance with codes (“1” and“0”) of such data. Here, the cylinder information is recorded in amanner so as to allow the value to vary for each of the tracks by a unitof 100 servo-areas.

The burst area 113 is an area in which data used for detecting positiondeviation information that corresponds to the relative position of themagnetic head to the track center position is recorded, and the magneticsections 301 and non-magnetic sections 302 are formed in accordance withcodes (“1” and “0”) of such data. FIG. 3A is an enlarged schematicdiagram that shows the burst area of a magnetic recording mediumaccording to the first embodiment.

The burst area 113 of the magnetic recording medium of the presentembodiment is provided with a plurality of magnetic sections 301 formedby a single burst recording pattern that is an array pattern that tiltswith a predetermined tilt angle to the preamble recording pattern of thepreamble area 111. In other words, the magnetic sections 301 of theburst area 113 are linearly arranged in a tilted manner with apredetermined tilt angle to the radial direction (perpendiculardirection in FIG. 2) of the magnetic recording medium along which therespective magnetic sections 201 are placed in a preamble recordingpattern of the preamble area 111, and formed by a burst recordingpattern that is arranged in the track direction with a non-magneticsection 302 having the same width as the magnetic section 301 beinginterpolated there between. Moreover, different from a burst area for aconventional magnetic recording medium in which magnetic sections arerecorded by four kinds of burst recording patterns having differentarray phases in the radial direction, such as burst A, burst B, burst Cand burst D, the burst area 113 of the present embodiment is providedwith a plurality of magnetic sections 301 formed thereon by using atilted single burst recording pattern. Here, the magnetic sections 301may be formed in a tilted linear form as a whole as a result ofmanufacturing processes of the magnetic recording medium, and may alsobe formed in a linear shape containing a fine shape of steps.

Since the burst recording pattern of the magnetic sections 301 in theburst area 113 is formed in a tilted manner with respect to thedirection of the magnetic sections 201 of the preamble area 111, therising phase timing of the reproduced signal from the magnetic sections301 deviates as the magnetic head is shifted in the radial direction. Asshown in FIG. 3A, the tilt angle of the magnetic sections 301 is definedas an angle that allows the phase of the burst reproduced signal to formone cycle for every two track changes of cylinder information of theaddress area 112.

Here, in the burst area 113 of the magnetic recording medium accordingto the present embodiment, not limited to two tracks of cylinderinformation of the address area 112, the tilted angle of the magneticsections 301 that forms one cycle of the phase of the reproduced signalfor data can be set within a range from two tracks or more to 4 tracksor less to obtain a sufficient amplitude value of the reproduced signal,without causing a reduced tilted angle. FIG. 3B is a schematic view thatshows a structure of the burst area 113 in which the magnetic sections301 are recorded by using a burst recording pattern that defines thetilted angle of the magnetic sections 301 as an angle that allows thephase of the burst reproduced signal to form one cycle for every fourtrack changes.

Here, the one cycle in the track direction of the magnetic sections 301of the burst recording pattern is identical to the cycle of the magneticsections 201 in the preamble area and address area. For this reason,when the magnetic head is shifted from the preamble area 111 to theburst area 113, in synchronized timing with the clock cycle that isdetermined as the sampling timing from the reproduced signal from thepreamble area 111, the sampling of the reproduced signal from the burstarea 113 can be carried out so that a phase detection is achieved.

Next, the following description will discuss a burst-area reproducingcircuit of a magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus that reproducesthe magnetic recording medium of the present embodiment. FIG. 4 is ablock diagram that shows a structure of the burst-area reproducingcircuit of the magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus according to thefirst embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 4, the burst-area reproducing circuit 400 of thepresent embodiment is mainly constituted by a CTF401, an A-D converter402 and a phase detection unit 410.

The CTF (Continuous Time Filter) 401 carries out a filtering process onan analog reproduced signal reproduced from the input burst area 113through an LPF (Low Pass Filter) or the like.

The A-D (Analog-Digital) converter 402 converts an analog signaloutputted from the CTF 401 into a digital burst reproduced signal insynchronized timing with the same clock as the synchronous clock of areproduced signal outputted by a PLL (Phase-Locked Loop) circuit (notshown) in the reproduced signal processing in the preamble area 111 sothat the sample value is stored in a memory 411 of the phase detectionunit 410. Here, in the present embodiment, four points are sampled froman analog signal of the burst reproduced signal of one cycle, and thesample values at the four points are stored in the memory 411.

Based upon the sample values at the four points of the burst reproducedsignal sampled by the A-D converter 402, the phase detection unit 410detects a phase difference to find a phase difference cosine value C anda phase difference sine value S of a phase difference of the burstreproduced signal from the synchronous clock, and BstAB obtained byintegrating the phase difference cosine value C and BstCD obtained byintegrating the phase difference sine value S are outputted, while theoutput timing is being switched.

As shown in FIG. 4, the phase detection unit 410 is provided with amemory 411, two inner product calculation units 412 a and 412 b and twointegrators 413 a and 413 b.

The memory 411 stores sample values of four points in one cycle thathave been sampled by the A-D converter 402.

FIG. 5A is an explanatory view that indicates a burst reproduced signaland sample points with a phase H0=0. Here, FIGS. 5A and 5B show burstreproduced signal waveforms from the burst areas of tracks having eventrack numbers. Here, a burst reproduced signal from the burst areas oftracks having odd track numbers forms a waveform obtained by invertingthe phase of each of waveforms of FIGS. 5A and 5B by 180 degrees.

The sampling values at four points, sampled from the burst reproducedsignal by the A-D converter 402 can be approximated by equation (1):y(k)=G0*sin(2πk/N+H0+π/N)  (1)

N=4, k=0, 1, 2, 3

where G0 is an amplitude, and H0 is a phase difference.

Sample values at four points are converted into vectors for each cycle,and outputted to the memory 411 in a manner as shown in equation (2):Y=[y(0),y(1),y(2),y(3)]^(t)  (2)Here, y(0), y(1), y(2) and y(3) of equation (2) are calculated basedupon equation (1), and indicated by equations (3) to (6):y(0)=G0*sin(π/4+H0)  (3)y(1)=G0*sin(3π/4+H0)  (4)y(2)=G0*sin(5π/4+H0)  (5)y(3)=G0*sin(7π/4+H0)  (6)

The output Y from the memory 411 at the time of the phase H0=0 shown inFIG. 5A is indicated by equation (7) by calculating equations (3) to (6)with H0=0 being held:Y≈(√2/2)*G0*[1,1,−1,1]^(t)  (7)

Here, ≈ is used because the actual sample value has an error from anideal value due to influences from noise.

An inner product calculation unit 412 a reads sample values Y at fourpoints for each cycle from the memory 411, and calculates the innerproduct of the sample value Y and each of cosine value detectingcoefficients [1, 1, −1, −1] so that a phase difference cosine value C isoutputted. An inner product calculation unit 412 b reads sample values Yat four points from the memory 411, and calculates the inner product ofthe sample value Y and each of sine value detecting coefficients [1, −1,−1, 1] so that a phase difference sine value S is outputted.

Here, the cosine value detecting coefficients [1, 1, −1, −1] are sinevalues with phase difference 0, and the sine value detectingcoefficients [1, −1, −1, 1] are cosine values with phase difference 0.

The phase difference cosine value C calculated by the inner productcalculation unit 412 a and the phase difference sine value S calculatedby the inner product calculation unit 412 b are represented by equations(8) and (9), when the inner products between the sample values Yindicated by equations (2) to (6) and the cosine value detectingcoefficients [1, 1, −1, −1] as well as the sine value detectingcoefficients [1, −1, −1, 1] are calculated.C=2√2*G0*cos(H0)  (8)S=2√2*G0*sin(H0)  (9)

An integrator 413 a sequentially integrates the phase difference cosinevalue C found in the inner product calculation unit 412 a, and anintegrator 413 b sequentially integrates the phase difference sine valueS found in the inner product calculation unit 412 b; thus, noise fromeach of the values is suppressed, and the resulting signal is outputtedas phase difference information. With this arrangement, two kinds ofphase difference information, that is, the phase difference sine valueand the phase difference cosine value, corresponding to an off-trackphase difference required for orthogonal wave detection are obtained.

A position detection unit 420 to which the phase difference cosine valueC, the phase difference sine value S and the track number are inputtedis used for detecting positional deviation information that indicates arelative distance of the magnetic head from the track center.

Next, the following description will discuss a burst area reproducingprocess to be carried out by the burst-area reproducing circuit 400according to the present embodiment having the structure as describedabove. FIG. 6 is a flow chart that shows a sequence of the burst areareproducing processes by the burst-area reproducing circuit of the firstembodiment.

When, after having passed over the preamble area 111 of the servo area110 and the address area 112 and having been shifted to a target track,the magnetic head reaches the burst area 113, a burst gate, which givesa period in which a burst signal reproducing process is carried out, isallowed to rise. Then, a burst reproduced signal is read from the burstarea 113 through the magnetic head so that the analog reproduced signalthus read is sent to the CTF 401. The CTF 401 carries out a filteringprocess on the analog reproduced signal, and inputs the resulting signalto the A-D converter 402. In the A-D converter 402, the reproducedsignal is sampled in synchronized sample timing with a synchronous clockdetermined in the reproduced signal processing of the preamble area sothat sample values Y at four points for each cycle are stored in thememory 411 of the phase detection unit 410.

The inner product calculation unit 412 a and the inner productcalculation unit 412 b of the phase detection unit 410 acquire thesample values Y at four points from the memory 411 (step S601).

The inner product calculation unit 412 a calculates the inner productbetween the acquired sample values Y and the cosine value detectingcoefficients [1, 1, −1, −1] to find a phase difference cosine value C(step S602). This phase difference cosine value C is indicated byequation (8), and the resulting value is outputted to the integrator 413a. The integrator 413 a sequentially integrates the inputted phasedifference cosine value C (step S603).

In contrast, the inner product calculation unit 412 b calculates theinner product between the acquired sample values Y and the sine valuedetecting coefficients [1, −1, −1, 1] to find a phase difference sinevalue S (step S604). The integrator 413 a sequentially integrates theinputted phase difference cosine value C (step S603). This phasedifference sine value S is indicated by equation (9), and the resultingvalue is outputted to the integrator 413 b. The integrator 413 bsequentially integrates the inputted phase difference sine value S (stepS605).

Moreover, the processes from the steps S601 to S605 are repeatedlycarried out as many times as M cycles included in the interval of theburst gate. With respect to the M cycles, all the cycles of the magneticsections 301 of the burst area 112 (21 cycles in the example of FIG. 2)may be included therein; however, this process causes a distortion inthe reproduced signal at the start position of the burst area 113, andin order to avoid this problem, preferably, after a lapse of timecorresponding to two cycles since the start of the reproducing processin the burst area 113, the burst gate is allowed to rise, and the burstgate is allowed to fall one cycle before the end position of the burstarea 113. For this reason, in the example of the magnetic recordingmedium of FIG. 2, during the period corresponding to M=21 cycles, theburst gate is kept in the raised state so that the processes from stepS601 to S605 are repeated.

Upon completion of integrating processes of the phase difference cosinevalue C corresponding to M cycles by the integrator 413 a, theintegrated value BstAB of the phase difference cosine value C isoutputted to the position detection unit 420 (step S606). In contrast,upon completion of integrating processes of the phase difference sinevalue S corresponding to M cycles by the integrator 413 b, theintegrated value BstCB of the phase difference sine value S is outputtedto the position detection unit 420 (step S607).

FIG. 7A is a graph that shows a state of a change due to an off-trackposition of the center of a magnetic head from the center of a track,which is given by integrated value BstAB of a phase difference cosinevalue C and integrated value BstCD of a phase difference sine value S(BstAB and BstCD are referred to as burst values).

In FIG. 7A, reference numeral 702 indicates the burst value BstAB and701 indicates the burst value BstCD. Actually, the waveform of the burstreproduced signal causes a waveform distortion, failing to form an idealsince waveform indicated by equation (1). For this reason, FIG. 7Aindicates that the burst values BstAB and BstCD also cause no sine-wavefluctuations with respect to the off-track position; however, BstCD isallowed to virtually linearly change with respect to the off-trackposition in the vicinity of the track center, and BstAB is allowed tovirtually lineally change at a position offset by 0.5 track (offsettrack position=position indicated by 0.5, −0.5). Consequently, itbecomes possible to detect position deviation information correspondingto the off-track position with high precision from the burst valuesBstAB and BstCD.

Therefore, the position detection unit 420 finds a weighted averageobtained by multiplying the inputted BstAB and BstCD by a weightingcoefficient preliminarily obtained based upon the graph of FIG. 7A. Inthis case, as described above, since the phases of waveforms of burstreproduced signals are inverted by 180 degrees between the reproducedsignal from an even track and the reproduced signal from an odd track,the track number CYL is inputted, and depending on whether the tracknumber is an even number or an odd number, the phases of BstAB and BstCDare inverted to find the weighted average so that a smoothing process iscarried out to find position deviation information PES.

In addition to this, the position detection unit 420 may be designed tofind position deviation information BES by using another method such asfinding arc-tangent arctan (BstAB/BstCD) of BstAB and BstCD.

FIG. 7B is a graph that shows position deviation information PES withrespect to each track address. A solid line 703 indicates positiondeviation information, and a wave line 704 indicates a deviation alongan odd track as well as along an even track.

As described above, according to the magnetic recording medium of thefirst embodiment, a plurality of magnetic sections 301 are recorded onthe burst area 113 by using a single burst recording pattern that tiltsto a preamble recording pattern of magnetic sections 201 of the preamblearea 111 with a predetermined angle; therefore, in comparison with aconventional magnetic recording medium in which the burst area isconstituted by a plurality of different burst recording patterns, itbecomes possible to improve the formatting efficiency of the magneticrecording medium. Moreover, a plurality of magnetic sections 301 arerecorded by using a single burst recording pattern that tilts to thepreamble recording pattern with a predetermined angle; therefore, whenthe magnetic head scans the burst area 113, the phase of the burstreproduced signal is allowed to change so that by detecting this phasechange, position deviation information of the magnetic head from thetrack center position can be found with high precision.

Moreover, in the magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus according tothe first embodiment, phase difference information of the burstreproduced signal to the preamble reproduced signal is found from thesample value of the burst reproduced signal so that the positiondeviation information of the magnetic head is found; therefore, evenwhen the burst area 113 is constituted by a single burst recordingpattern that tilts, as in the case of the magnetic recording medium ofthe present embodiment, it becomes possible to detect positionaldeviation information with high precision.

A second embodiment according to the present invention will be explainedbelow.

In a magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus according to the secondembodiment, a burst gate is divided into a plurality of gates in aburst-area reproducing circuit so as to process a reproduced signal froma burst area 113.

In the same manner as the first embodiment, the magnetic recordingmedium of the present embodiment has a structure in which magneticsections 301 of the burst area 113 are formed as a single burstrecording pattern that tilts to a preamble recording pattern. In thepresent embodiment, a track width of a serve-area 110 is set to ⅔ of thetrack width of a data area. However, the magnetic recording medium ofthe first embodiment may be used for a magnetic recording/reproducingapparatus of the present embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram that shows a structure of a burst-areareproducing circuit 800 of a magnetic recording/reproducing apparatusaccording to the second embodiment. As shown in FIG. 8, the burst-areareproducing circuit 800 of the present embodiment is mainly constitutedby a CTF 401, an A-D converter 402 and a phase detection unit 810. TheCTF 401 and the A-D converter 402 have the same functions as those ofthe CTF 401 and the A-D converter 402 of the burst-area reproducingcircuit 400 of the first embodiment.

In the phase detection unit 810, the burst gate is divided into fourgates, and for each of the divided gates, and a burst value is found asphase difference information from sample values at four points of aburst reproduced signal stored in the memory 411 by using the A-Dconverter 402, and the resulting value is outputted to the positiondetection unit 420.

As shown in FIG. 8, the phase detection unit 810 is constituted by thememory 411, an inner product calculation unit 812 and an integrator 813.

In the same manner as the first embodiment, the memory 411 stores samplevalues at four points for each cycle sampled by the A-D converter 402.

The inner product calculation unit 812 calculates inner products betweensample values at four points and coefficients on a gate basis, whileswitching coefficients for each of the divided gates. Different from thefirst embodiment, the present embodiment has a structure in which: theburst gate is divided into four equal portions to provide intervals ofgate A, gate B, gate C and gate D, and for each of the gate intervals,the inner product coefficient by which the sample values Y at fourpoints are multiplied is switched and made different from each other.

Since the burst area of a conventional magnetic recording medium isformed by a burst recording pattern that is divided into burst A, burstB, burst C and burst D, each of reproduced signals from the burstsections is obtained as a reproduced signal with a phase difference H0=0indicated by FIG. 5A, with the result that the amplitude value G0fluctuates in each of the burst sections. By adopting [1, 1, −1, −1] asinner product coefficients for the sample values at four points for onecycle, the inner product value C is obtained from equation (8) so thatthe value corresponding the amplitude, that is, the value in proportionto the amplitude, is obtained. Here, actually, in order to suppressnoise, the inner product values corresponding to a plurality offrequencies are integrated and by using the average amplitude, therespective burst values of burst A, burst B, burst C and burst D arefound.

In the present embodiment, however, since the burst area 113 of themagnetic recording medium is formed as a tilted single burst recordingpattern as shown in FIG. 3A, the amplitude obtained from the reproducedsignal is always made constant. For this reason, in the burst-areareproducing circuit 800 of the present embodiment, the burst gate isdivided into four equal portions to prepare intervals of gate A, gate B,gate C and gate D, and for each of the gate intervals, the inner productcoefficient by which the sample values Y at four points are multipliedis switched and made different from each other so that differentamplitude values are obtained.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory view that shows a state in which inner productcoefficients are switched for each of divided gates of the burst gate.As shown in FIG. 9, gate A uses the inner product coefficients [1, −1,−1, 1], gate B uses the inner product coefficients [−1, 1, 1, −1], gateC uses the inner product coefficients [1, 1, −1, −1] and gate D uses theinner product coefficients [−1, −1, 1, 1], in a switched manner so thatthe inner products relating to the sample values Y at four points arefound.

The integrator 813 sequentially integrates the inner product valuesfound in the inner product calculation unit 812 for each of the gates ina manner so as to suppress noise, and the resulting integrated value isoutputted to the position detection unit 420 as the burst value (phasedifference information).

In this manner, even in the case when a plurality of magnetic sections301 in the burst area 113 are formed by a single burst recording patterntilted to the preamble recording pattern, since the burst valuecorresponding to each of the divided gates is obtained; therefore, theposition detection unit 420 is allowed to detect the position of themagnetic head by using the same processes as those of the magneticrecording medium having a burst area formed by four kinds of burstrecording patterns in the functions and structure of the conventionalposition detection unit 420 that detects position deviation informationfrom reproduced signals derived from conventional divided four burstareas of burst A, burst B, burst C and burst D.

The following description will discuss a burst area reproducing processto be carried out by the burst-area reproducing circuit 800 according tothe present embodiment having the structure as described above. FIG. 10is a flow chart that shows a sequence of the burst area reproducingprocesses according to the second embodiment.

When, after having passed over the preamble area 111 of the servo area110 and the address area 112 and having been shifted to a target track,the magnetic head reaches the burst area 113, a burst gate gives aperiod in which a burst signal reproducing process is carried out, andin this embodiment, the burst gate is divided into equal portions, thatis, gate A, gate B, gate C and gate D. In the same manner as the firstembodiment, a burst reproduced signal is read from the burst area 113through the magnetic head so that the analog reproduced signal thus readis sent to the CTF 401. The CTF 401 carries out a filtering process onthe analog reproduced signal, and inputs the resulting signal to the A-Dconverter 402. In the A-D converter 402, the reproduced signal issampled in synchronized sample timing with a synchronous clockdetermined in the reproduced signal processing of the preamble area sothat sample values Y at four points for each cycle are stored in thememory 411 of the phase detection unit 810.

In the phase detection unit 810, when the gate A interval is started(Yes: at step S1001), the inner product calculation unit 812 acquiresthe sample values Y at four points from the memory 411 (step S1002). Theinner product calculation unit 812 calculates the inner product bymultiplying the acquired sample values Y by the inner productcoefficients [1, 1, −1, −1] corresponding to the gate A interval and theresulting value is sequentially integrated by the integrator 813 (stepS1003). These processes of steps S1002 and S1003 are repeated until thegate A interval has been completed (step S1004: No). With thisarrangement, the integrator 813 integrates the inner product valuecalculated during the gate A interval.

Upon completion of the gate A interval (Yes: step S1004), the valueintegrated in the integrator 813 is sent to the position detection unit420 as a burst value Bst (phase difference information) (step S1005).

When the gate B interval is started (Yes: at step S1006), the innerproduct calculation unit 812 acquires the sample values Y at four pointsfrom the memory 411 (step S1007), and calculates the inner product bymultiplying the acquired sample values Y by the inner productcoefficients [−1, 1, 1, −1] corresponding to the gate B interval and theresulting value is sequentially integrated by the integrator 813 (stepS1008). These processes of step S1007 and S1008 are repeated until thegate B interval has been completed (step S1009: No). With thisarrangement, the integrator 813 integrates the inner product valuecalculated during the gate B interval.

Upon completion of the gate B interval (Yes: step S1009), the valueintegrated in the integrator 813 is sent to the position detection unit420 as a burst value Bst (phase difference information) (step S1010).

In the same manner, when the gate C interval is started (Yes: at stepS1011), the inner product calculation unit 812 acquires the samplevalues Y at four points from the memory 411 (step S1012), and the innerproduct calculation unit 812 calculates the inner product by multiplyingthe acquired sample values Y by the inner product coefficients [1, 1,−1, −1] corresponding to the gate C interval and the resulting value issequentially integrated by the integrator 813 (step S1013). Theseprocesses of step S1012 and S1013 are repeated until the gate C intervalhas been completed (step S1014: No).

Upon completion of the gate C interval (Yes: step S1014), the valueintegrated in the integrator 813 is sent to the position detection unit420 as a burst value Bst (phase difference information) (step S1015).

In the same manner, when the gate D interval is started (Yes: at stepS1016), the inner product calculation unit 812 acquires the samplevalues Y at four points from the memory 411 (step S1017), and the innerproduct calculation unit 812 calculates the inner product by multiplyingthe acquired sample values Y by the inner product coefficients [−1, −1,1, 1] corresponding to the gate D interval and the resulting value issequentially integrated by the integrator 813 (step S1018). Theseprocesses of step S1017 and S1018 are repeated until the gate D intervalhas been completed (step S1019: No).

Upon completion of the gate D interval (Yes: step S1019), the valueintegrated in the integrator 813 is sent to the position detection unit420 as a burst value Bst (phase difference information) (step S1020).

By using these processes, each of burst values having differentamplitudes G0 for each of the divided gates is inputted to the positiondetection unit 420 so that the position detection unit 420 is allowed tocarry out the position detecting operation on the magnetic head in themagnetic recording medium according to the present embodiment withoutthe necessity of changing the conventional position detection processes.

FIG. 11 is a graph that shows a state of a change in burst value Bstbetween an off-track position and each of gate intervals. Referencenumeral 1101 indicates a burst value Bst in the gate A interval, 1102indicates a burst value Bst in the gate B interval, 1103 indicates aburst value Bst in the gate C interval, and 1104 indicates a burst valueBst in the gate D interval.

Different from the amplitude value in each of the bursts A, B, C and Din the conventional magnetic recording medium, these burst values haveplus and minus values of an average zero; however, it becomes possibleto calculate four kinds of burst values having virtually the same trendsas those of the respective bursts A, B, C and D of the conventionalmagnetic recording medium.

As described above, in the magnetic recording/reproducing apparatusaccording to the second embodiment, the burst gate is divided into fourequal portions to prepare gate A, gate B, gate C and gate D intervals,and the inner product coefficient by which the sample values Y at fourpoints are multiplied is made different and switched for each of thegate intervals; therefore, the position detection unit 420 is allowed todetect the position of the magnetic head in the magnetic recordingmedium according to the present embodiment in which a plurality ofmagnetic sections 301 in the burst area 113 are formed by a single burstrecording pattern that tilts to the preamble recording pattern, withoutthe necessity of changing the conventional position detection processes.

A third embodiment according to the present invention will be explainedbelow.

In the magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus according to the secondembodiment, a burst gate is divided into four equal intervals, and fourkinds of different burst values are calculated by switching innerproduct coefficients for each of the divided gates by using the innerproduct calculation unit; however, in a magnetic recording/reproducingapparatus according to the third embodiment, weighting coefficients forinputted values are switched by using a finite impulse response (FIR)filter so that different burst values are calculated as phase differenceinformation.

In the same manner as the second embodiment, the magnetic recordingmedium of the present embodiment, which has a structure in which aplurality of magnetic sections 301 are formed by using a single burstrecording pattern that tilts to the preamble recording pattern, isdesigned so that the track width of the servo-area is ⅔ of the trackwidth of the data area. Here, the magnetic recording medium of the firstembodiment may be used for the magnetic recording/reproducing apparatusof the present embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram that shows a structure of a burst-areareproducing circuit 1200 of a magnetic recording/reproducing apparatusaccording to the third embodiment. As shown in FIG. 12, the burst-areareproducing circuit 1200 of the present embodiment is mainly constitutedby a CTF 401, an A-D converter 402 and a phase detection unit 1210. TheCTF 401 and the A-D converter 402 have the same functions as those ofthe CTF 401 and the A-D converter 402 of the burst-area reproducingcircuit 400 of the first embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 12, the phase detection unit 1210 is provided with anFIR filter 1212, a loop gain 1214 and an integrator 1213.

The FIR filter (Finite Impulse Response Filter) 1212 is a filter, which,upon receipt of an impulse, allows an output signal to converge in afinite period of time, and equalizes the sample value of a burstreproduced signal converted into a digital signal by the A-D converter402. In the present embodiment, the FIR filter 1212, which is composedof a filter with four taps, is designed to calculate an output valuebased upon equation (10) in response to an input signal.Out[k]=A0*Y[k]+A1*Y[k−1]+A2*Y[k−2]+A3*Y[k−3]  (10)

Here, equation (10) indicates that the output value Out [k] with respectto k is represented by the weighted average of the present and pastinput values Y[k], Y[k−1], Y[k−2] and Y[k−3], and coefficients A0, A1,A2 and A3, which have been stored in the loop gain 1214, are referred toupon conducting calculations based upon equation (10).

As indicated by equation (10), the FIR filter 1212 carries out processesequivalent to the processes used for calculating the inner product valuebetween the sample values Y at four points and the coefficients [A0, A1,A2, A3], and the burst-area reproducing circuit 800 of the presentembodiment uses the FIR filter 1212 in place of the inner productcalculation unit 812 of the second embodiment.

In the present embodiment, however, different from the second embodimentin which sample values at four points for each cycle are inputted so asto find the inner product value, the sample value of each point isinputted for each one point, and the inner products between the samplevalues at four points, that is, the inputted sample value Y[k] of theone point and the previous sample values at three points from theinputted time, Y[k−1], Y[k−2] and Y[k−3], and the coefficients A0, A1,A2 and A3 of the loop gain 1214, are found in accordance with equation(10). Moreover, in order to provide synchronization for each cycle, thecoefficients A0, A1, A2 and A3 are looped and sequentially changed, eachtime the sample value is inputted. More specifically, the coefficients[A0, A1, A2, A3], used upon inputting a certain sample value, arechanged to [A3, A0, A1, A2] upon inputting the next sample value, andthen further changed to [A2, A3, A0, A1] upon inputting the succeedingsample value, so that, after having inputted the sample values at fourpoints for one cycle, the sequence is looped to return to the firstcoefficients [A0, A1, A2, A3]. The FIR filter 1212 of this type is acircuit generally used for AGC processes and PLL processes in thereproduced signal processing of the preamble area; therefore, byutilizing this circuit for the burst-area reproducing process, itbecomes possible to eliminate the necessity of installing a new circuitsuch as the inner product calculation unit, and consequently to make thecircuit scale of the burst-area reproducing circuit smaller.

The integrator 1213 sequentially integrates the inner product valuesfound in the FIR filter 1212 so as to suppress noise, and the resultingintegrated value is outputted to the position detection unit 420 as aburst value Bst (phase difference information). In the phase detectionunit 1210 of the present embodiment, since the sample value of each ofthe points is inputted to the FIR filter 1212 each time, no memory forstoring the sample values at four points is installed, which isdifferent from the second embodiment.

The following description will discuss a burst area reproducing processto be carried out by the burst-area reproducing circuit 800 according tothe present embodiment having the structure as described above. FIG. 13is a flow chart that shows a sequence of the burst area reproducingprocesses according to the third embodiment.

When, after having passed over the preamble area 111 of the servo area110 and the address area 112 and having been shifted to a target track,the magnetic head reaches the burst area 113, a burst gate gives aperiod in which a burst signal reproducing process is carried out in thesame manner as the second embodiment, and in this embodiment, the burstgate is divided into equal portions, that is, gate A, gate B, gate C andgate D. In the same manner as the first embodiment, a burst reproducedsignal is read from the burst area 113 through the magnetic head so thatthe analog reproduced signal thus read is sent to the CTF 401. The CTF401 carries out a filtering process on the analog reproduced signal, andinputs the resulting signal to the A-D converter 402. In the A-Dconverter 402, the reproduced signal is sampled in synchronized sampletiming with a synchronous clock determined in the reproduced signalprocessing of the preamble area.

In the phase detection unit 1210, when the divided gate interval (first,the gate A interval) is started (Yes: at step S1301), the FIR filter1212 acquires the sample values Y[k] (step S1302). The FIR filter 1212finds the inner product by multiplying the acquired sample value Y[k]and the previously acquired sample values Y[k−1], Y[k−2] and Y[k−3] bycoefficients [A0, A1, A2, A3] based upon equation (10) and the resultingvalue is sequentially integrated by the integrator 1213 (step S1303).

Moreover, the FIR filter 1212 acquires the next sample value Y[k+1] fromthe A-D converter 402 (step S1304). Then, the FIR filter 1212 finds theinner product by multiplying the acquired sample value Y[k+1] and thepreviously acquired sample values Y[k], Y[k−1] and Y[k−2] bycoefficients [A3, A0, A1, A2] that have been looped by one based uponequation (11), and the resulting value is sequentially integrated by theintegrator 1213 (step S1305).Out[k+1]=A3*Y[k+1]+A0*Y[k]+A1*Y[k−1]+A2*Y[k−2]  (11)

Next, the FIR filter 1212 acquires the next sample value Y[k+2] from theA-D converter 402 (step S1306). Then, the FIR filter 1212 finds theinner product by multiplying the acquired sample value Y[k+2] and thepreviously acquired sample values Y[k+1], Y[k] and Y[k−1] bycoefficients [A2, A3, A0, A1] that have been looped by one based uponequation (12), and the resulting value is sequentially integrated by theintegrator 1213 (step S1307).Out[k+2]=A2*Y[k+2]+A3*Y[k+1]+A0*Y[k]+A1*Y[k−1]  (12)

Next, the FIR filter 1212 acquires the next sample value Y[k+3] from theA-D converter 402 (step S1308). Then, the FIR filter 1212 finds theinner product by multiplying the acquired sample value Y[k+3] and thepreviously acquired sample values Y[k+2], Y[k+1] and Y[k] bycoefficients [A1, A2, A3, A0] that have been looped by one based uponequation (13), and the resulting value is sequentially integrated by theintegrator 1213 (step S1309).Out[k+3]=A1*Y[k+3]+A2*Y[k+2]+A3*Y[k+1]+A0*Y[k]  (13)

These processes of step S1302 to step S1303 are repeated until thecurrent divided gate interval has been completed (step S1310: No). Uponcompletion of the current divided gate interval (Yes: step S1310), theburst value Bst (phase difference information) integrated in the currentdivided gate interval is sent to the position detection unit 420 (stepS1311). The above-mentioned processes from step S1301 to S1311 arerepeatedly carried out on gate A, gate B, gate C and gate D. With thisarrangement, in the same manner as the second embodiment, a differentburst value (phase difference information) is outputted to the positiondetection unit 420 for each of the gate intervals.

As described above, the magnetic recording/reproducing apparatusaccording to the third embodiment finds the burst value by switchinginner product coefficients by the FIR filter; therefore, in the samemanner as the second embodiment, the position detection unit 420 isallowed to detect the position of the magnetic head in the magneticrecording medium according to the present embodiment in which aplurality of magnetic sections 301 in the burst area 113 are formed by asingle burst recording pattern that tilts to the preamble recordingpattern, without the necessity of changing the conventional positiondetection processes.

In the magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus of the third embodiment,since the FIR filter 1212 that is used for preamble area reproducingprocesses upon calculating the inner product is utilized, it becomespossible to eliminate the necessity of installing a new circuit such asthe inner product calculation unit, and consequently to make the circuitscale of the burst-area reproducing circuit smaller.

Here, with respect to the initial value of the coefficient of each ofthe gates, the value may be changed depending on the respective gates;however, it is more preferable to provide an arrangement in which, uponrise of each gate, the coefficient is further looped by one. In thiscase, different from the reproducing process of a magnetic recordingmedium having a burst area formed by a conventional burst recordingpattern divided into four kinds of different bursts A, B, C and D,although the output order of the burst value for each gate is variedamong the burst value corresponding to burst A, the burst valuecorresponding to burst B, the burst value corresponding to burst C andthe burst value corresponding to burst D, the four kinds of the burstvalues are outputted so that it is possible to carry out the positiondetecting processes by using the position detection unit 420.

A fourth embodiment according to the present invention will be explainedbelow.

In the magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus of the first embodiment,the phase detection unit 410 finds the phase difference cosine value Cand the phase difference sine value S, and the phase difference cosinevalue C and the phase difference sine value S thus found, as they are,are outputted to the position detection unit 420; however, the magneticrecording/reproducing apparatus in accordance with the fourth embodimentfinds the phase difference cosine value C and the phase difference sinevalue S and carries out division operations thereon so that the positiondeviation signal is subjected to approximation processes.

In the same manner as the first embodiment, the magnetic recordingmedium of the present embodiment has a structure in which a plurality ofmagnetic sections 301 in the burst area 113 are formed by a single burstrecording pattern that tilts to the preamble recording pattern, and thetrack width of the servo-area is formed with the same width as the trackwidth of the data area. Here, the magnetic recording medium of thesecond embodiment may be applied to the magnetic recording/reproducingapparatus of the present embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram that shows a structure of a burst-areareproducing circuit 1400 of the magnetic recording/reproducing apparatusaccording to the fourth embodiment. As shown in FIG. 14, the burst-areareproducing circuit 1400 of the present embodiment is mainly constitutedby a CTF401, an A-D converter 402 and a phase detection unit 1410. TheCTF 401 and the A-D converter 402 have the same functions as those ofthe CTF 401 and the A-D converter 402 of the burst-area reproducingcircuit 400 of the first embodiment.

The phase detection unit 1410 detects the phase difference to find thephase difference cosine value C, (−C) and the phase difference sinevalue S from sample values at four points of a burst reproduced signalsampled by the A-D converter 402, and finds divided values S/C and(−C/S) from the value obtained by respectively integrating these values,and outputs the resulting values to a smoothing processing unit 1415.

As shown in FIG. 14, the phase detection unit 1410 is provided with amemory 411, three inner product calculation units 1412 a, 1412 b and1412 c, three integrators 1413 a, 1413 b and 1413 c and two dividers1414 a and 1414 b. Here, the memory 411 has the same functions as thoseof the memory 411 of the phase detection unit 410 of the firstembodiment, and stores the sample values at four points outputted fromthe A-D converter 402.

The inner product calculation unit 1412 a reads sample values Y at fourpoints for each cycle from the memory 411, calculates the inner productbetween the sample values Y and cosine value detecting coefficients [1,1, −1, −1] based upon equations (2) to (6) and outputs the phasedifference cosine value C indicated by equation (14):C=2√2*G0*cos(H0)  (14)The inner product calculation unit 1412 b reads sample values Y at fourpoints from the memory 411, calculates the inner product between thesample values Y and sine value detecting coefficients [1, −1, −1, 1] andoutputs the phase difference sine value S indicated by equation (15):S=2√2*G0*sin(H0)  (15)

The inner product calculation unit 1412 c reads sample values Y at fourpoints from the memory 411, calculates the inner product between thesample values Y and cosine value detecting coefficients [−1, −1, 1, 1]and outputs the phase difference cosine value (−C) indicated by equation(16):−C=−2√2*G0*cos(H0)  (16)

In this case, the cosine value detecting coefficients [1, 1, −1, −1] aresine wave values with a phase difference of 0, the sine value detectingcoefficients [1, −1, −1, 1] are cosine wave values with a phasedifference of 0, and the cosine value detecting coefficients [−1, −1, 1,1] are sine wave values with a phase difference of 180 degrees.

The integrator 1413 a sequentially integrates the phase differencecosine value C found in the inner product calculation unit 1412 a, theintegrator 1413 b sequentially integrates the phase difference sinevalue S found in the inner product calculation unit 1412 b and theintegrator 1413 c sequentially integrates the phase difference cosinevalue −C found in the inner product calculation unit 1412 c so as torespectively suppress noise.

The divider 1414 a divides the integrated phase difference sine value Soutputted from the integrator 1413 b by the integrated phase differencecosine value C outputted from the integrator 1413 a to find a dividedvalue Ph_A (=S/C), and outputs the resulting value to the smoothingprocessing unit 1415. The divider 1414 b divides the integrated phasedifference cosine value −C outputted from the integrator 1413 c by theintegrated phase difference sine value S outputted from the integrator1413 b to find a divided value Ph_B (=−C/S), and outputs the resultingvalue to the smoothing processing unit 1415.

Strictly speaking, the phase of the reproduced signal is detected asarctan (C/S) that is an arctangent of the phase difference cosine valueC and the phase difference sine value S; however, in the vicinity of aposition corresponding to phase 0, the value of arctan (C/S) can beapproximated to the divided value of S/C. For this reason, in thepresent embodiment, the divided value ph-A=S/C is found as phasedifference information by the divider 1414 a of the phase detection unit1410 so that the phase difference from the track center is detected.

Moreover, at a position having a phase offset of 90 degrees, the phasedifference cosine value C=0 holds, failing to find the divided valueS/C; therefore, in the vicinity of such a position, the reliability inphase difference deteriorates. For this reason, the phase detection unit1410 of the present embodiment finds the divided value Ph_B=−C/S asphase difference information having an offset of 90 degrees by using thedivider 1414 b.

The smoothing processing unit 1415 to which pieces of phase differenceinformation Ph_A and Ph_B have been inputted from the phase detectionunit 1410 carries out a smoothing process by weighted-averaging thesetwo values to find position deviation information.

The following description will discuss a burst-area reproducing processcarried out by the burst-area reproducing circuit 1400 according to thepresent embodiment having the above-mentioned arrangement. FIG. 15 is aflow chart that shows a sequence of burst-area reproducing processesaccording to the fourth embodiment.

When, after having passed over the preamble area 111 of the servo area110 and the address area 112 and having been shifted to a target track,the magnetic head reaches the burst area 113, a burst gate is allowed torise in the same manner as the first embodiment. Then, a burstreproduced signal is read from the burst area 113 through the magnetichead so that the analog reproduced signal thus read is sent to the CTF401. The CTF 401 carries out a filtering process on the analogreproduced signal, and the A-D converter 402 samples the reproducedsignal in synchronized sample timing with a synchronous clock determinedin the reproduced signal processing of the preamble area so that samplevalues Y at four points for each cycle are stored in the memory 411 ofthe phase detection unit 410.

The inner product calculation unit 1412 a, the inner product calculationunit 1412 b and the inner product calculation unit 1412 c of the phasedetection unit 1410 acquire the sample values Y at four points from thememory 411 (step S1501).

The inner product calculation unit 1412 a calculates the inner productbetween the acquired sample values Y and the cosine value detectingcoefficients [1, 1, −1, −1] to find a phase difference cosine value C(step S1502). This phase difference cosine value C is indicated byequation (14), and the resulting value is outputted to the integrator1413 a. The integrator 1413 a sequentially integrates the inputted phasedifference cosine value C (step S1503).

Moreover, the inner product calculation unit 1412 b calculates the innerproduct between the acquired sample values Y and the sine valuedetecting coefficients [1, −1, −1, 1] to find a phase difference sinevalue S (step S1504). This phase difference sine value S is indicated byequation (15), and the resulting value is outputted to the integrator1413 b. The integrator 1413 b sequentially integrates the inputted phasedifference sine value S (step S1505).

The inner product calculation unit 1412 c calculates the inner productbetween the acquired sample values Y and the cosine value detectingcoefficients [−1, −1, 1, 1] to find a phase difference cosine value −C(step S1506). This phase difference cosine value −C is indicated byequation (16), and the resulting value is outputted to the integrator1413 c. The integrator 1413 c sequentially integrates the inputted phasedifference cosine value (−C) (step S1507). Moreover, the processes fromthe steps S1501 to S1507 are repeatedly carried out as many times as Mcycles included in the interval of the burst gate. With respect to the Mcycles, in the same manner as the first embodiment, all the cycles ofthe magnetic sections 301 of the burst area 112 (21 cycles in theexample of FIG. 2) may be included therein, or may be set to 18 cyclesby allowing the burst gate to rise at the point of time after a lapse oftime corresponding to two cycles since the start of the reproducingprocess in the burst area 113 and also to fall one cycle before thecompletion position of the burst area 113.

Upon completion of the above-mentioned repetitive processescorresponding to M cycles, the integrated phase difference sine value Soutputted from the integrator 1413 b is divided by the integrated phasedifference cosine value C outputted from the integrator 1413 a in thedivider 1414 a to find phase difference information Ph_A (=S/C), and theresulting value is outputted to the smoothing processing unit 1415 (stepS1508).

Next, the integrated phase difference cosine value −C outputted from theintegrator 1413 c is divided by the integrated phase difference sinevalue S outputted from the integrator 1413 b in the divider 1414 b tofind phase difference information Ph_B (=−C/S), and the resulting valueis outputted to the smoothing processing unit 1415 (step S1509).

The smoothing processing unit 1415 to which the pieces of phasedifference information Ph_A (=S/C) and Ph_B (=−C/S) have been inputtedcalculates the weighted average a*(S/C)+b*(−C/S) (a, b: weightingcoefficients) so as to carry out a smoothing process to find positiondeviation information PES (step S1510).

In this manner, the magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus accordingto the fourth embodiment finds the phase difference cosine value C andthe phase difference sine value S, and a dividing operation is carriedout so that arctan (C/S) is approximated by Ph_A (=S/C) and Ph_B (=−C/S)to find a position deviation signal; therefore, it is possible topositively find a phase difference irrespective of the position from thetrack center, and consequently to detect the position of the magnetichead with high precision.

In the fourth embodiment, arctan (C/S) in the vicinity of each of aposition corresponding to phase 0 and a position having an offset inphase of 90 degrees is approximated by each of Ph_A (=S/C) and Ph_B(=−C/S), and another structure in which four inner product calculationunits and dividers are respectively installed may be prepared so thatfour pieces of phase difference information approximated at positionshaving respectively offset phases by 90 degrees can be found.

FIG. 16 is a block diagram that shows a structure of a burst-areareproducing circuit 1600 that is a modification of the fourthembodiment. In this modification, as shown in FIG. 14, a phase detectionunit 1610 is provided with a memory 411, four inner product calculationunits 1412 a, 1412 b, 1412 c and 1612 d, four integrators 1413 a, 1413b, 1413 c and 1613 d, and four dividers 1414 a, 1414 b, 1614 c and 1614d. Here, the memory 411 has the same functions as those of the memory411 of the phase detection unit 410 of the first embodiment, and storessample values at four points outputted from the A-D converter 402.

In the same manner as the fourth embodiment, the inner productcalculation units 1412 a, 1412 b and 1412 c read sample values Y at fourpoints for each cycle, and calculate respective inner products betweensample values Y indicated by equations (2) to (6) and the cosine valuedetecting coefficients [1, 1, −1, −1], the sine value detectingcoefficients [1, −1, −1, 1] as well as the cosine value detectingcoefficients [−1, −1, 1, 1], thereby outputting a phase differencecosine value C, a phase difference sine value S and a phase differencecosine value −C respectively indicated by equations (14), (15) and (16).

The inner product calculation unit 1612 d, which is added in thismodification, reads sample values Y at four points from the memory 411,calculates the inner product between the sample values Y and the sinevalue detecting coefficients [−1, 1, 1, −1] and outputs a phasedifference sine value (−S) indicated by equation (17):−S=−2√2*G0*sin(H0)  (17)

Here, the sine value detecting coefficients [−1, 1, 1, −1] representcosine values, each having a phase difference of 180 degrees.

In the same manner as the fourth embodiment, each of the integrators1413 a, 1413 b and 1413 c sequentially integrates the phase differencecosine value C, the phase difference sine value S and the phasedifference cosine value −C found in the inner product calculation units1412 a, 1412 b and 1412 c so as to suppress the noise. The integrator1613 d sequentially integrates the phase difference sine value −S foundin the integrator 1613 d so as to suppress noise.

In the same manner as the fourth embodiment, the divider 1414 a dividesthe integrated phase difference sine value S outputted from theintegrator 1413 b by the integrated phase difference cosine value Coutputted from the integrator 1413 a to find a divided value Ph_A(=S/C), and outputs the resulting value to the smoothing processing unit1615.

In the same manner as the fourth embodiment, the divider 1414 b dividesthe integrated phase difference cosine value −C outputted from theintegrator 1413 c by the integrated phase difference sine value Soutputted from the integrator 1413 b to find a divided value Ph_B(=−C/S), and outputs the resulting value to the smoothing processingunit 1615.

The divider 1614 c divides the integrated phase difference sine value −Soutputted from the integrator 1613 d by the integrated phase differencecosine value C outputted from the integrator 1413 a to find a dividedvalue Ph_C (=−S/C), and outputs the resulting value to the smoothingprocessing unit 1615.

The divider 1614 d divides the integrated phase difference cosine valueC outputted from the integrator 1413 a by the integrated phasedifference sine value S outputted from the integrator 1413 b to find adivided value Ph_D (=C/S), and outputs the resulting value to thesmoothing processing unit 1615.

These pieces of phase difference information Ph_A=S/C, Ph_B=−C/S),Ph_C=−S/C, and Ph_D=C/S are obtained by respectively approximatingarctan (C/S) in the vicinity of each of off-track positions of phase 0,phase offset of 90 degrees, phase offset of 180 degrees and phase offsetof 270 degrees.

The following description will discuss a burst area reproducing processcarried out by a burst-area reproducing circuit 1600 of thismodification having the above-mentioned structure. FIG. 17 is a flowchart that shows a sequence of the burst area reproducing process of themodification of the fourth embodiment.

Here, sample values Y at four points are acquired from the memory 411 bythe inner product calculation unit 1412 a, the inner product calculationunit 1412 b and the inner product calculation units 1412 c and 1612 d ofthe phase detection unit 1410 (step S1701), and the inner productcalculation processes by the inner product calculation units 1412 a,1412 b and 1412 c and the integrating processes by the integrators 1413a, 1413 b and 1413 c (steps S1702 to S1707) are carried out in the samemanner as those processes (S1502 to S1507) of the fourth embodiment.

Next, the inner product calculation unit 1612 d calculates the innerproduct between the acquired sample value Y and the sine value detectingcoefficients [−1, −1, 1, 1] to find a phase difference sine value −S(step S1708). This phase difference sine value −S is indicated byequation (17), and the resulting value is outputted to the integrator1613 d. The integrator 1614 d sequentially integrates the inputted phasedifference sine value −S (step S1709).

Moreover, the above-mentioned processes from the steps S1701 to S1709are repeatedly carried out as many times as M cycles, and uponcompletion of the processes as many times as M cycles, the divider 1414a divides the integrated phase difference sine value S outputted fromthe integrator 1413 b by the integrated phase difference cosine value Coutputted from the integrator 1413 a to find phase differenceinformation Ph_A (=S/C), and outputs the resulting value to thesmoothing processing unit 1615 (step S1710).

Next, the divider 1414 b divides the integrated phase difference cosinevalue −C outputted from the integrator 1413 c by the integrated phasedifference sine value S outputted from the integrator 1413 b to findphase difference information Ph_B (=−C/S), and outputs the resultingvalue to the smoothing processing unit 1615 (step S1711).

Moreover, the divider 1414 c divides the integrated phase differencesine value −S outputted from the integrator 1613 d by the integratedphase difference cosine value C outputted from the integrator 1413 a tofind a divided value Ph_C (=−S/C), and outputs the resulting value tothe smoothing processing unit 1615 (step S1712).

Furthermore, the divider 1614 d divides the integrated phase differencecosine value C outputted from the integrator 1413 a by the integratedphase difference sine value S outputted from the integrator 1413 b tofind a divided value Ph_D (=C/S), and outputs the resulting value to thesmoothing processing unit 1615 (step S1713).

The smoothing processing unit 1615 to which pieces of phase differenceinformation Ph_A (=S/C), Ph_B (=−C/S), Ph_C (=−S/C), and Ph_D (=C/S)have been inputted calculates an weighted averagea*(S/C)+b*(−C/S)+c*(−S/C)+d*(C/S) (a, b, c, d: weighting coefficients)so that a smoothing operation is carried out to find position deviationinformation PES (step S1714).

As described above, in the magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus ofthe modification of the fourth embodiment, four pieces of phasedifference information, each approximated at each position having aphase offset of 90 degrees, are found to obtain a position deviationsignal so that the phase difference can be positively found irrespectiveof the position from the track center; thus, it becomes possible todetect the position of the magnetic head with high precision.

A fifth embodiment according to the present invention will be explainedbelow.

The magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus according to the first tofourth embodiments, the position detection of the magnetic head iscarried out by using a reproduced signal from the burst area 113;however, the magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus according to thefifth embodiment further detects a shifting speed of the magnetic headin the radial direction of the recording medium from the reproducedsignal from the burst area 113.

In the same manner as the first embodiment, the magnetic recordingmedium of the present embodiment has a structure in which a plurality ofmagnetic sections 301 of the burst area 113 are formed by a single burstrecording pattern that tilts to the preamble recording pattern, and thetrack width of the servo-area is formed with the same width as the trackwidth of the data area. Here, the magnetic recording medium of thesecond embodiment may be used for a magnetic recording/reproducingapparatus of the present embodiment.

FIG. 18 is a block diagram that shows a structure of a burst-areareproducing circuit and a position-speed detection unit 1820 of themagnetic recording/reproducing apparatus according to the fifthembodiment. The burst-area reproducing circuit 400 has the same circuitstructure as that of the first embodiment. In the present embodiment,the burst gate is divided into two sections, and for each of dividedgate 1 and gate 2 intervals, phase difference cosine values C1 and C2and phase difference sine values S1 and S2 are found.

The speed-position detection unit 1820 detects the position of themagnetic head on the track and a speed thereof in the radial directionof the recording medium. As shown in FIG. 18, the speed-positiondetection unit 1820 is provided with a position detection unit 1821 anda speed detection unit 1822.

The position detection unit 1821 is inputted with the phase differencecosine value, the phase difference sine value and the track number foreach of the divided gate intervals, and finds pieces of positiondeviation information PES1 and PES2 for each of the divided gateintervals. In other words, the position deviation information PES1 isfound from the phase difference cosine value C1 and the phase differencesine value S1 calculated in the gate interval 1, and the positiondeviation information PES2 is found from the phase difference cosinevalue C2 and the phase difference sine value S2 calculated in the gateinterval 2. Here, the position deviation information is found from thephase difference cosine value and the phase difference sine value byusing the same method as the position detection unit 420 of the firstembodiment.

The speed detection unit 1822 calculates the shifting speed in theradial direction of the magnetic head from the pieces of positiondeviation information PES1 and PES2 for each of the gate intervals.

FIG. 19 is an explanatory view that shows a state in which a burst gateis divided. In the present embodiment, the burst gate is equallydivided; however, the burst gate is not necessarily divided equally.Here, as shown in FIG. 19, when the delay time for rising in the dividedlatter half of gate interval is defined as T_BST, the position deviationinformation PES and the shifting speed in the radial direction v of themagnetic head are represented by the following equations (18) and (19)by using the position deviation information PES1 found in the gateinterval 1, that is, the former half, and the position deviationinformation PES2 found in the gate interval 2, that is, the latter half.PES=(PES1+PES2)/2  (18)v=(PES2−PES1)/T _(—) BST  (19)

The reason that, in equation (18), PES1 and PES2 are added and thendivided by two is explained as follows: although the position detectionwith higher precision is available as the interval becomes longer, theburst gate is divided into two and made shorter in the presentembodiment, with the result that influences due to the noise appear inboth of PES1 and PES2 to cause degradation in the position detectingprecision; therefore, the above-mentioned methods are taken so as toprevent this problem.

Moreover, in equation (19), with respect to the shift of the magnetichead in the radial direction in the burst area, since changes in theacceleration can be ignored, the difference between PES1 and PES2 isdivided by the delay time T_BST for rising upon calculating the shiftingspeed in the radial direction.

Next, the following description will discuss the position-speeddetecting processes of the magnetic head in a magneticrecording/reproducing apparatus 1800 according to the present embodimenthaving the above-mentioned structure. FIG. 20 is a flow chart that showsa sequence of magnetic head position-speed detecting processes by themagnetic recording/reproducing apparatus 1800 according to the fifthembodiment.

When, after having passed over the preamble area 111 of the servo area110 and the address area 112 and having been shifted to a target track,the magnetic head reaches the burst area 113, gate 1, that is, theformer half of the divided two burst gates, is allowed to rise, andduring this gate terminal 1, the phase difference cosine value C1 andthe phase difference sine value S1 are found by the phase detection unit410 in the same manner as the first embodiment, and the positiondetection unit 1821 calculates position deviation information PES1 inthe same manner as the first embodiment (step S2001).

Next, when gate 2, that is, the latter half of the divided gates, isallowed to rise with a delay of T_BST from gate 1, the phase detectionunit 410 finds the phase difference cosine value C2 and the phasedifference sine value S2 during the gate interval 2, in the same manneras the first embodiment, and the position detection unit 1821 calculatesthe position deviation information PES2 in the same manner as the firstembodiment (step S2002).

Next, based upon PES1 found in the gate interval 1 and PES2 found in thegate interval 2, the position detection unit 1821 calculates positiondeviation information PES by using equation (18) (step S2003). Next,based upon PES1, PES2 and the delay time T_BST for rising, the speeddetection unit 1822 calculates a shifting speed v in the radialdirection of the magnetic head by using equation (19)(step S2004).

In this manner, in the magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus 1800according to the fifth embodiment, the burst gate is divided into twosections, and pieces of position deviation information PES1 and PES2 arefound from the respective gate intervals of the former half and latterhalf thereof, and based upon these PES1 and PES2, the position deviationinformation PES and the shifting speed in the radial direction of themagnetic head are found; therefore, it is possible to detect theposition of the magnetic head with higher precision. Moreover, accordingto the present embodiment, since the shifting speed in the radialdirection can be detected by using the burst area, it becomes possibleto find the shifting speed with higher precision in comparison with thearrangement in which the shifting speed is found based upon thedifference of positions between sectors during a seeking operation inwhich the magnetic head travels between the tracks, thereby greatlyimproving the seeking performance.

A sixth embodiment according to the present invention will be explainedbelow.

In the magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus 1800 according to thefifth embodiment, the burst gate is divided, and based upon pieces ofposition deviation information PES1 and PES2 found from the respectivedivided gates, the position deviation information PES of the magnetichead and the shifting speed v in the radial direction of the magnetichead are calculated; however, a magnetic recording/reproducing apparatusaccording to the sixth embodiment further switches the gate intervals soas to calculate the position deviation information PES of the magnetichead and the shifting speed v in the radial direction of the magnetichead.

In the same manner as the first embodiment, the magnetic recordingmedium of the present embodiment has a structure in which a plurality ofmagnetic sections 301 of the burst area 113 are formed by a single burstrecording pattern that tilts to the preamble recording pattern, and thetrack width of the servo-area is formed with the same width as the trackwidth of the data area. Here, the magnetic recording medium of thesecond embodiment may be used for a magnetic recording/reproducingapparatus of the present embodiment.

FIG. 21 is a block diagram that shows a structure of a burst-areareproducing circuit and a position-speed detecting unit 2120 of amagnetic recording/reproducing apparatus according to the sixthembodiment. The burst-area reproducing circuit 400 has the same circuitstructure as that of the first embodiment.

The speed-position detecting unit 2120 switches divided gates of theburst gate so that the position of the magnetic head on the track isdetected and the speed thereof in the radial direction of the recordingmedium is also detected. As shown in FIG. 21, the speed-positiondetecting unit 2120 is provided with a position detection unit 1821, aspeed detection unit 1822 and a gate switching unit 2121. Here, theposition detection unit 1821 and the speed detection unit 1822 have thesame functions as the position detection unit 1821 and the speeddetection unit 1822 of the fifth embodiment.

During the positioning control of the magnetic head on the track, thegate switching unit 2121 does not divide the burst gate, and during theseeking operation that allows the magnetic head to shift between tracks,it switches operations so as to divide the burst gate into two sections.Since the position detection precision becomes higher as the burst gateis made longer, this arrangement is made so as to make the precision ofthe position detection highest during the positioning control of themagnetic head; in contrast, during the seeking operation of the magnetichead, since the speed detection should be preferentially carried outrather than the position detection, the burst gate is divided so as toeffectively carry out the speed detection.

Moreover, during the seeking operation of the magnetic head, the gateswitching unit 2121 changes the delay time T_BST for rising in the fifthembodiment depending on the target speed so as to adjust the dividedgate intervals.

In recent years, the track pitch of the magnetic recording medium isnarrowed with the result that at the time of maximum seeking speed ofthe magnetic head, the amount of shift in the radial direction thereofupon passing through the burst area sometimes tends to exceed one track.For this reason, in the case where the speed detection is carried out bydividing the burst gate into two sections as described in the fifthembodiment, the shifting speed of the magnetic head might be erroneouslydetected; therefore, a difference in the positions of the magnetic headbetween sectors is taken, and the detection of the shifting speed of themagnetic head has to be conducted based upon this difference value andthe shift time between the sectors, resulting in degradation in theprecision of the speed detection. For this reason, in the presentembodiment, during the seeking time of the magnetic head, by shorteningthe delay time T_BST for rising in response to the target speed, theamount of fluctuations in the position deviation information PES foreach of the divided gates is suppressed so that it becomes possible toprevent the erroneous detection in the shifting speed.

FIG. 22 is an explanatory view that shows a state of a rising delay timeof a divided gate 2 in comparison with a burst gate. In the presentembodiment, the gate switching unit 2121 of the position-speed detectionunit 2120 is designed so that, upon positioning control of the magnetichead, the burst gate is not divided, while, upon seeking operation ofthe magnetic head, the burst gate is divided into a gate 1 and a gate 2,so that the delay time T_BST for rising of the gate 2 is changeddepending on the target speed of the magnetic head. More specifically,the controlling operation is carried out so that, as the target speed ofthe magnetic head becomes faster, the delay time T_BST for rising ismade shorter. After the delay time T_BST for rising has been changed,the shifting speed detecting process of the magnetic head is carried outin the same manner as the speed detecting process of the fifthembodiment.

The speed of the magnetic head during the seeking operation to bedetected is calculated by the weighted average between the speed foundby using the above-mentioned divided gates and the speed obtained basedupon the position difference between sectors. In this case, theweighting coefficient is set to a value that allows the speed detectedbased upon the position difference between sectors to be used morepreferentially, as the target speed of the magnetic head during theseeking operation becomes greater, and is also set to a value thatallows the speed detected by using the divided gates to be morepreferentially used, at the time of a low-speed seeking operation aswell as in the settling state.

As described above, in the magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus ofthe sixth embodiment, switching processes are carried out in such amanner that during the positioning process of the magnetic head on thetrack, the burst gate is not divided, and that during a seekingoperation that allows the magnetic head to shift between tracks, theburst gate is divided into two sections; thus, the delay time T_BST forrising of the gate 2 is adjusted in accordance with the target speed ofthe magnetic head so that it becomes possible to detect the position ofthe magnetic head with high precision during the positioning process ofthe magnetic head, and also to carry out the speed detection with highprecision during a high-speed seeking operation of the magnetic headbetween tracks.

In the present embodiment, during the seeking operation of the magnetichead, the delay time T_BST for rising is adjusted in accordance with thetarget speed of the magnetic head, with the burst gate being dividedinto two sections, and in addition to this arrangement, an arrangementin which the number of divisions of the burst gate is adjusted by thegate switching unit 2121 in accordance with the target speed of themagnetic head may be used. FIG. 23 is an explanatory view that shows anexample in which the number of divisions of the burst gate is increasedin response to the target speed of a magnetic head. More specifically,the gate switching unit 2121 carries out adjustments so that the numberof divisions is increased as the target speed of the magnetic headbecomes faster.

A seventh embodiment according to the present invention will beexplained below.

In the magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus 1800 according to thefifth embodiment, the shifting speed in the radial direction of themagnetic head is detected based upon position deviation informationPES1, PES2 of the respective divided gates obtained from a phasedifference found by the reproduced signal of the burst area 113 and thedelay time T_BST for rising; however, this method tends to have errorsin detecting the speed.

For this reason, in the magnetic recording/reproducing apparatusaccording to the seventh embodiment, the shifting speed in the radialdirection of the magnetic head is detected by taking conversion of theamplitude value of the reproduced signal from the burst area 113 intoconsideration.

In the same manner as the first embodiment, the magnetic recordingmedium of the present embodiment has a structure in which a plurality ofmagnetic sections 301 of the burst area 113 are formed by a single burstrecording pattern that tilts to the preamble recording pattern, and thetrack width of the servo-area is formed with the same width as the trackwidth of the data area. Here, the magnetic recording medium of thesecond embodiment may be used for a magnetic recording/reproducingapparatus of the present embodiment.

Here, the structures of the burst-area reproducing circuit and theposition-speed detection unit of the magnetic recording/reproducingapparatus of the present embodiment are the same as those of the fifthembodiment.

The phase difference cosine value C indicated by equation (8) and thephase difference sine value S indicated by equation (9) commonly includean amplitude G0. Therefore, as indicated by the following equation (20),information that includes only the amplitude value is obtained from thephase difference cosine value C and the phase difference sine value S.G=√{square root over (C ² +S ²)}=2√2*G0  (20)

In the magnetic recording medium to be used in the present embodiment,since a plurality of magnetic sections 301 in the burst area 113 areformed by a single burst recording pattern that tilts to the preamblerecording pattern, the amplitude is normally maintained in a constantlevel even when, on the same track, the relative distance from the trackcenter is changed, with only the phase of the clock of the reproducingsignal obtained from the burst area being changed.

However, in the case when the magnetic head is shifted between tracks sothat the seeking speed increases, the amplitude of the reproduced signalfrom the burst area is changed. Such a change in the amplitude dependson the tilt angle of the magnetic sections 301; however, in the tiltedburst recording pattern of the magnetic sections 301 as shown in FIG. 2,when the magnetic head is shifting toward the center of the recordingmedium, that is, upward in FIG. 2, the signal amplitude tends to reduce,and, in contrast, when the magnetic head is shifting outward of therecording medium from the center of the recording medium, that is,downward in FIG. 2, the signal amplitude tends to increase.

Accordingly, in the magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus of thepresent embodiment, the speed detection is preferentially carried outbased upon equation (19) in the speed detection unit 1822 of theposition-speed detection unit 1820, and upon occurrence of an erroneousdetection of speed, by using the phase difference cosine value C and thephase difference sine value S inputted from the phase detection unit 410based upon equation (20), amplitude information G including an amplitudeG0 is calculated so that the shifting speed of the magnetic head isfound.

Here, in the case when the magnetic head is carrying out a high-speedseeking operation, the amplitude value G0 fluctuates and the frequencyalso varies. For this reason, when the magnetic head is shifting outwardfrom the center of the magnetic medium, the amplitude value G0monotonously increases, with the two factors having a non-linearrelationship; therefore, the amplitude information G and the shiftingspeed of the magnetic head are preliminarily measured so that aspeed-amplitude conversion function, which indicates a relationshipbetween the shifting speed and the amplitude information G, is found,and based upon the amplitude information G and the speed-amplitudeconversion function, the shifting speed of the magnetic head isdetected.

As described above, in the magnetic recording/reproducing apparatusaccording to the seventh embodiment, in addition to the detection of theshifting speed of the magnetic head based upon position deviationinformation PES1, PES2 of the respective divided gates obtained from aphase difference and the delay time T_BST for rising, in the event of anerror in the speed detection, the shifting speed in the radial directionof the magnetic head is detected based upon a change in the amplitudevalue of the reproduced signal from the burst area 113; therefore, itbecomes possible to detect the shifting speed of the magnetic head withhigher precision.

An eighth embodiment according to the present invention will explainedbelow.

In the magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus according to the eighthembodiment, the shifting speed of the magnetic head is detected basedupon a frequency fluctuation in the reproduced signal from a burst areaoccurring at the time of a high-speed seeking operation of the magnetichead.

In the same manner as the first embodiment, the magnetic recordingmedium of the present embodiment has a structure in which a plurality ofmagnetic sections 301 of the burst area 113 are formed by a single burstrecording pattern that tilts to the preamble recording pattern, and thetrack width of the servo-area is formed with the same width as the trackwidth of the data area. Here, the magnetic recording medium of thesecond embodiment may be used for a magnetic recording/reproducingapparatus of the present embodiment.

Strictly speaking, the frequency fluctuation that occurs when themagnetic head is carrying out a high-speed seeking operation appears asan error in orthogonal wave detection, and gives adverse effects to thephase detection and amplitude detection, resulting in a non-lineardistortion in the detection results. In the magnetic recording medium ofthe present embodiment, in the case of a seeking operation in which themagnetic head is shifted toward the center of the recording medium, thefrequency is lowered, while, in the case of a seeking operation in whichthe magnetic head is shifted outward from the center of the recordingmedium, the frequency is increased. Since this frequency fluctuation andthe shifting speed in the radial direction of the magnetic head mutuallyhave a linear relationship, the magnetic recording/reproducing apparatusof the present embodiment detects the shifting speed of the magnetichead by detecting the frequency fluctuation so that the shifting speedin the radial direction of the magnetic head is detected with highprecision even during a high-speed seeking operation.

FIG. 24 is a block diagram that shows a structure of a magneticrecording/reproducing apparatus according to the eighth embodiment. FIG.24 shows only the circuit that is used for detecting the shifting speedof the magnetic head in the magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus ofthe present embodiment. Here, during the detecting operation of thespeed of the magnetic head, the detection of position deviationinformation from the reproduced signal in the burst area 113 is notavailable; however, position information, found from the address area112, may be used so that no problems are raised when the magnetic headis carrying out a high-speed seeking operation.

As shown in FIG. 24, the structure to be used for the speed detection inthe magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus according to the eighthembodiment includes an A-D (Analog-Digital) converter 2301, a PLL(Phase-Locked Loop) circuit 2310, an SFC (Servo Frequency Generator)circuit 2302 and a speed detection circuit 2302. Here, all the A-Dconverter 2301, the PLL circuit 2310 and the SFG circuit 2302 commonlyutilize circuits used for reproduced signal processing in the preamblearea.

The A-D converter 2301 converts the burst reproduced signal that is areproduced signal from the burst area 113 that is inputted from a headamplifier IC (HIC) through a CTF (not shown) to a digital signal insynchronized timing with a synchronous clock outputted from the PLLcircuit 2310.

The SFG circuit 2302 generates a servo reference clock. The PLL circuit2310 phase-adjusts the servo reference clock generated by the SFGcircuit 2302 to generate a reproducing clock that has a frequency thatis N times the frequency of the burst reproduced signal detected by theA-D converter 2301 with a phase coincident therewith; thus, the sampletiming in the A-D converter 2301 is adjusted.

In other words, as explained in the first embodiment, in the reproducedsignal processing in the burst area 113, the sampling timing of theburst reproduced signal is synchronized with the timing determined inthe reproduced signal processing in the preamble area 111, and in thecase when the center of the magnetic head is coincident with the trackcenter, the phase of the reproduced signal is set to 0 so that asampling process is carried out in such timing as shown in FIG. 5A.

In the present embodiment, upon detection of the shifting speed of themagnetic head, a reproduced clock, which is frequency- andphase-adjusted so as to be synchronized with the burst reproduced signalby the PLL circuit 2301, is generated so that a synchronizing processfor carrying out a feed-back control so as to adjust the sampling timingshown in FIG. 5A to a timing as shown in FIG. 5B is carried out.

As shown in FIG. 24, the PLL circuit 2310 is provided with a P/D (PhaseDetector: phase comparator) 2312 and a VCO (Voltage ControlledOscillator) 2311.

The P/D 2312 detects a timing error (TE) between a servo reference clock(actually, clock obtained by preliminarily N-frequency dividing thereference clock) and a data row of a sample value Y sampled by the A-Dconverter 2301.

The VCO2311 adjusts the transmission frequency by the timing error (TE)detected by the P/D 2312 so that the data row of the sample value Y ofthe burst reproduced signal is sampled at the timing as shown in FIG.5-2. The timing error (TE) includes a phase error and a frequency errorin a mixed manner at first, and by using the timing error (TE), thetransmission frequency of the VCO 2311 is adjusted so that a feed-backcontrolling operation is carried out by the PLL circuit 2310 until thedata row of the sample value Y outputted from the A-D converter 2301 hasbeen sampled at the timing as shown in FIG. 5B.

The controlling operation of the PLL circuit 2310 thus carried outdetermines the sampling timing of the burst reproduced signal so thatthe synchronizing process is completed, with the timing error (TE) beingset to a fixed value corresponding only to a frequency compensatedamount to the frequency obtained by N-frequency dividing the servoreference clock, and the resulting frequency is outputted to the speeddetection circuit 2320.

The speed detection circuit 2320 holds the initial timing error (TE0)after the reproduced signal processing of the preamble area 111. Theinitial timing error (TE0), which is derived from the timing error (TE),inputted from the PLL circuit 2310 at the time when, upon detecting theshifting speed of the magnetic head, the magnetic head has been shiftedto the burst area to allow the burst gate to rise, and retained therein,corresponds to a timing error immediately after the completion of thesynchronizing process of the preamble reproduced signal.

The speed detection circuit 2320 compares a timing error (TE) inputtedfrom the PLL circuit 2310, that is, the timing error (TE) after thecompletion of the burst reproduced signal synchronization, with theinitial timing error (TE0) so that, a difference value as a result ofthe comparison forms a frequency fluctuation amount that is proportionalto the frequency error of the preamble area and the burst area, andbased upon such a frequency fluctuation amount, the shifting speed VELof the magnetic head is outputted.

Upon detecting the shifting speed of the magnetic head, at the time whenthe magnetic head has been shifted to the burst area 113 to allow theburst gate to rise, a timing error (TE) is inputted to the speeddetection circuit 2320 from the PLL circuit 2310, and this timing error(TE) is retained in the speed detection circuit 2320 as the initialtiming error.

During the burst gate interval, a synchronization drawing process of theburst reproduced signal is executed by the PLL circuit 2310. When theburst gate is allowed to fall so that the sampling timing of the burstreproduced signal has been determined, the timing error (TE) at thispoint of time is inputted to the speed detection circuit 2320 from thePLL circuit 2310 so that the speed detection circuit 2320 calculates afrequency fluctuation amount as a difference value between the inputtedtiming error and the initial timing error, and the shifting speed VEL ofthe magnetic head corresponding to the frequency fluctuation amount isoutputted.

In this manner, in the magnetic recording/reproducing apparatusaccording to the eighth embodiment, the frequency fluctuation in thepreamble area and the burst area is detected so as to find the shiftingspeed of the magnetic head; therefore, even when the magnetic head iscarrying out a high-speed seeking operation, the shifting speed in theradial direction of the magnetic head can be detected with highprecision.

With respect to the method of detecting the frequency, not limited tothe processes adopted by the embodiments, any known method may be used.Moreover, by using a band-pass filter, the frequency fluctuation may beconverted to an amplitude fluctuation, and based upon the convertedamplitude, the shifting speed of the magnetic head may be detected.

Additional advantages and modifications will readily occur to thoseskilled in the art. Therefore, the invention in its broader aspects isnot limited to the specific details and representative embodiments shownand described herein. Accordingly, various modifications may be madewithout departing from the spirit or scope of the general inventiveconcept as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

1. A method of recording/reproducing comprising: reproducing on amagnetic recording medium that includes a servo area where servo dataused for detecting a position of a magnetic head on the magneticrecording medium is recorded, and a writable data area, arranged side byside with the servo area in the track direction, on which user data iswritten by the magnetic head, the servo area including a preamble areawhere a preamble recording pattern that represents data used forproviding a clock synchronization of the servo data is formed by aplurality of magnetic sections, and a burst area where data used fordetecting a relative position of the magnetic head with respect to atrack center position of the servo data is recorded and on which asingle burst recording pattern which is a layout pattern that tilts tothe preamble recording pattern with a predetermined tilt angle is formedby a plurality of magnetic sections, wherein reproducing includesdetecting a phase difference of a burst reproduced signal of the burstarea from a reproduced signal of the preamble area, based upon samplevalues at respective points in the preamble area, which are sampled byusing a synchronous clock determined by a reproduced signal processingof the preamble area and a plurality of predetermined coefficients, asphase difference information corresponding to a plurality of phasedifferences; detecting position deviation information indicating arelative distance of the magnetic head from the track center positionbased upon the phase difference information; and detecting a shiftingspeed in a radial direction of the magnetic head of the magneticrecording medium, wherein detecting the phase difference comprisesdetecting the phase difference information relating to the burstreproducing signal based upon the sample value at each of the pointssampled from the burst reproduced signal at a synchronous clockdetermined by the reproduced signal processing in the preamble area anda plurality of predetermined coefficients, for respective divided gateintervals into which a burst gate interval corresponding to areproducing process interval for the burst area is divided, detectingposition deviation information comprises detecting deviation informationof the magnetic head center from the track center position for each ofthe divided gate intervals, based upon the phase difference informationfor each of the divided gates, and detecting the position deviationinformation in the burst gate interval based upon the deviationinformation for each of the divided gate intervals, and detecting ashifting speed comprises detecting the shifting speed based upon thedeviation information for each of the divided gates and a delay time forrising of the divided gate.
 2. The method of recording/reproducingaccording to claim 1, further comprising controlling one of a delay timefor rising of the divided gate and a number of divisions of the burstgate based upon the shifting speed in the radial direction of themagnetic head.
 3. The method of recording/reproducing according to claim1, wherein detecting a shifting speed further comprises detecting anamplified value of the burst reproduced signal based upon the phasedifference information, and detecting the shifting speed in the radialdirection based upon the amplified value.